#Axiom Verge

[bright-eyed-dizzy]

6 fanarts but with a twist! had a lot of fun with this one! :-]

[wildragon]

Who's your boss?

[corntort]

literally the worlds sleepiest girl rn . im laying down

[flerponius]

[cordate-chordata]

Commission of Indra and Amashilama from Axiom Verge 2 :D

Alt. bg and transparent bg under the cut

[cyaniccy]

hello axiom verge fandom. i have not played the game yet but shh dont worry about that just look at the guy. its the him. tarc or whatever. yeaay

gift for my bestest freng forevar. @bright-eyed-dizzy

[athetos]

If I had a nickel for every time an indie game passion project mostly led by a single developer painstakingly over the course of years that became a critically acclaimed masterpiece and changed how I interact with video games as a medium, I would have 3 nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s pretty impressive it’s happened thrice.

[cheesieblr]

The Axiom Verges

(Axioms Verge? I ‘unno. Spoilers)

This metroidvania duology is a neat little couple of games I’m happy to have happened upon. I beat the first game a few years ago and just this week beat the second one. I shall talk about both.

As I understood, Axiom Verge stood out by having some cool, non-traditional MV upgrades. No double or wall jumping, no crawling or balling, and some unconventional weapons. I liked it. My prior MVs were almost entirely Metroid and Castlevania, so the freshness was extremely welcome. Not to mention that AV’s pixel art is INCREDIBLE! I LOVE giant bio-mechanical beings and I LOVE every gross, writhing detail of their bodies. It makes me wanna puke in the best way possible— like Akira. I don’t really remember the story… but the final boss was interesting, unconventional and rather skill-less to fight.

Axiom Verge 2 was much of the same; still fun and still an enjoyable experience. Again I don’t get much of the lore, even if someone explained it to me. All I understood was that the protagonist is a dirty billionaire, but she cares for her daughter— and prevented the Murder of the Universe ;) i guess. Balancing felt good, didn’t feel like I got too OP too fast, and the exploration was really neat! I liked going into the breach as the drone a bunch; great way to discover little secrets here and there. Pixel art is amazing once again! I would say something about the bosses except there really weren’t any :\. They were more optional combat “challenges” than a true obstacle that stood in your way. I am not for that choice too often. I want a boulder in the path; a fucking steel door. Let me bash my head into it for 3 hours trying to figure out the strategy !! (only slightly exaggerating)

It was clearly left open for a third game, and I will certainly play it if/when it comes out!

[darkgaia2]

playing again for a friend o mine. ive missed him saur much

[busterpointisdead]

Lil guys

[bright-eyed-dizzy]

axiom verge cutscene redraw! i gave the bioflux arms ✨personality✨ so maybe trace won’t feel so alone

[catspores]

Finished that thing I was drawing, my bouba and @bright-eyed-dizzy 's kiki that we're brainwormed about... Corvid and Trace they could never make me hate you

[corntort]

he should get more violently ill im just saying

[atwas-meme-ing]

Toby Fox: Remixes entire soundtracks from the same 5 leitmotifs. Everyone: Oh my gosh, this is so cool, this has to mean something, I have to analyze every single note and come up with 1500 theories and sing Toby's praises for all eternity!

Tom Happ: Does the EXACT SAME THING. Everyone: Oh. Cool soundtrack.

smh

[theblindarcher]

If there is some alternate passage into the Breach, we absolutely must find it.

GBA FE inspired portrait of Trace Eschenbrenner from Axiom Verge. Made on stream for the Night of the Experiment.

[maeve-is-annoying-about-books]

Wakes up in a cold sweat

Axiom Verge 1 is a subversion of the classic masculine power fantasy, while Axiom Verge 2 subverts the classic feminine one.

Hear me out. First let's define both really simply. The masculine power fantasy is essentially one of becoming one's own self, and exerting their power upon the world in their name. The feminine power fantasy is one of union, nurturing and caring for another. We can further simplify these ideals into two lines. The masculine power fantasy is to kill the father. The feminine is to save the daughter.

That's the most barebones description but it's just to get us off on the right foot. Essay below the cut going into detail

In AV1 we follow Trace. All along we're set up with a simple idea, Trace must survive, grow to master his environment and his abilities, and go on to slay his foes. The Rusalki.

Wait what?

Yes, the Rusalki are a controlling force on Trace. For him to fight his way into the masculine power fantasy he must use his power to buck the control of another and choose for himself what is right. But that's not what happens. In fact, he works with them. Why?

Athetos is the final position, the ultimate masculine form of Trace. He makes clones of himself and each fail to become. They're stripped of name and identity and these "lesser selves" are now subservient only to Athetos. The Father. The Master. If Trace wishes to become a man, he must prove himself unconquerable and stand evenly with Athetos.

That's the nightmare segment. We see Trace literally chasing after an ideal self he can't keep up with. We see him become one of the failed clone monsters and experience being a puppet, it's the masculine nightmare. He is a failure, he will be subsumed, he must become his perceived ideal self.

But it's all a trap. Trace doesn't just man up and beat the toxin that's mutating him. He has help from Ophelia. See, there's been a secret this entire time in the background, have you caught it?

When Trace finds his mutated other selves, he tries to reason and they will not listen. They're caught up in the masculine narrative and there are only two ways out of it. Destroy Athetos, or change the script.

Trace, who has been nurturing and healing the Rusalki despite their power over him. Trace who has to use his understanding, and for whom a boss fight isn't glorious single combat. Trace who bears the ultimate yonic symbol in the Axiom Disruptor. Guns are generally phallic symbols but this one's design but this one disrupts (heh) the narrative symbology to a different one.

Empathy, sacrifice, and grace are often hallmarks of the feminine power fantasy. There is much to be said about whether these are healthy themes but for now, in present moment, that's often what they are. It is in showing empathy to his failed clones that he finds purpose beyond meager violence to face Athetos. It's through empathy that he connects with Elsenova and the other Rusalki who then grant him the power of making connections to defeat his foe. He sacrifices his own pride and it allows him to see the world for what it truly is rather than a playground to be remade in his image. The address disruptor may seem a tool to do just that at first, but in actuality it cannot change what has not already been changed. Most of all, he sacrifices his ultimate masculine form in Athetos, refusing to become powerful to become understanding. His method is not to subjugate his potential lesser selves and become the standout example but simply to be, in the world he is in.

Indra is taken by the hand along the path of the feminine. She comes to rescue her daughter and must work under the mercy of the Arms. A class of people who have power, and power over her as a kind of patriarchy. Indra! A world-class CEO is now a victim of a system and a culture that simply doesn't value her for what she is.

And just like Trace, the further she goes along this path the more misled she is. She is expected to sacrifice everything, even her life for her daughter. She must care for Damu and balance catering to the desires of the figuratively-masculine Amashilama.

Trace suffered being the victim of toxic masculinity. Becoming isolated and dejected and discarded. Indra becomes the victim of toxic femininity, sacrificing until there is nothing left to give. She is used for her body and her mind is a discarded, useless thing. But it is from that mind that Indra flips her own script.

She remakes her body in her image, as she likes. Have you noticed the hacking tool that makes her the master of her demesne? The phallic symbol of the ice pick? Each tool she has leads her closer to her destiny and the more she makes a name for herself the more empowered she becomes, to the point she makes her own name for herself in the world. Everything Indra is given puts her in the position of that brave and empowered masculine, even and especially, the ending.

Should I talk about how Indra's body is used so that Amalshilama can get at her real goal? The next generation of Arms. How she is literally used to produce and bequeath the next age to the patriarchal Arms? At how Indra's past self takes on the feminine role of sacrifice and fulfills the idea of motherhood by reuniting with her daughter, and how that leaves our mechanical Indra free to pursue her name? (Presumably Ophelia?)

Indra's pursuit saves her life, in a sense, and she becomes greater than the simple story she was placed into. As Trace did. As they both did and in so doing did not become victims of masculinity and femininity. In fact, all throughout their games they win by pushing past the constraints humanity would place on them.

And just. AUGH. The symbolism! The way Trace carries larva on his back being "injected into". The way Indra is given actual soldier's weaponry. The way Sudra is still until the Disruptor is picked up, almost a symbol of beginning life. The way Indra seeks a way to allow Damu to build a body and follow in her example. To literally make himself.

Axiom Verge is so good actually.